Manchester City fans sang of jingle bells, and the fun of seeing City win away, and this was a straightforward progression into the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup for a side who have occasionally struggled away from their Etihad Stadium home this season.

Only a late goal from Lloyd Dyer, outstanding for Leicester, briefly worried the visitors but Premier League class told.

Leicester were too slow to get going, almost too in awe of such distinguished guests. Only the pacy Dyer really took the game to Manchester City. Only the agility and positioning of Leicester’s keeper, Kasper Schmeichel, who learned his trade at Eastlands, kept the score down.

A Leicester fan, Sam Bailey, a local prison warder until winning X Factor, sang her new single with great gusto at half-time but the real winner was the B side put out by Manuel Pellegrini.

Aleksandar Kolarov attacked well from left-back, scoring a gem of a free-kick. James Milner was excellent, breaking forward constantly down the left and crossing for Edin Dzeko to score twice.

The Bosnian centre-forward also led the line well, bringing his midfielders into play.

“I always say that Edin Dzeko is a very important player,’’ Pellegrini said. “If he’s not playing normally in the XI starting it’s because [Sergio] Agüero and [Alvaro] Negredo are both playing very well. But every time that Edin plays he plays very well.’’

Loudly supported by the away fans, Joe Hart kept goal solidly, unfussily, and had no chance with Dyer’s goal. Jack Rodwell kept driving forward with the ball, seizing this rare opportunity, knowing that the roadblock to regular first-team action is huge, particularly since Fernandinho’s arrival.

Of Pellegrini’s A-listers on view, Vincent Kompany organised the defence well, the back four switching off only once to allow Dyer to score. Some of David Silva’s passing picked holes in Leicester’s defence. The one disappointment of the night for Pellegrini was Pablo Zabaleta’s hamstring injury.

After watching his side reach 75 goals in 25 matches, Pellegrini observed: “I said when I arrived here, that I like my team to play in an attacking way and try to score goals everywhere and always the most amount of goals that we can. I don’t know if we are intimidating other teams or not. But we know in every game we normally score goals and that’s very important for the confidence.”

Pellegrini’s side enjoyed the ideal start. When Anthony Knockaert fouled Dzeko 30 yards out after eight minutes, Kolarov took charge. The ball flew over the wall and curled away from the stretching Schmeichel. The Leicester keeper, a keen tennis player, has worked on his reflexes and quickness of movement on the line by watching the likes of Rafael Nadal but there was nothing he could do to repel Kolarov’s strike.

Dyer’s speed worried Pellegrini’s side at times. Jesus Navas was cautioned for a professional foul when Dyer flew through the middle.

But the force remained with the Premier League side. Schmeichel saved from Dzeko and then punched a Kolarov volley over. Rodwell twice went close.

Milner’s form, and frequent use from the bench by Pellegrini, signals he certainly has a future at the Etihad. He provided the crosses either side of the break for Dzeko to usher the visitors towards the semi-finals.

The Bosnian’s first was a header after Milner had delivered the ball towards the far-post. The second was a low shot, following Milner’s cutback. Dzeko was unmarked and it was all too easy, prompting Schmeichel briefly to let rip at his defenders.

His friend, Hart, became more involved, saving a header from Wes Morgan with 18 minutes and then beaten with 13 minutes remaining when good work from Paul Konchesky created a chance for Dyer. Leicester’s best outfield player, Dyer caught the ball strongly and it deflected off Kompany past Hart, who stood no chance. Manchester City tightened up and carried on into the semi-finals.

For Leicester, this was simply a reminder of the quality upstairs. The full house was also a reminder of what the club can achieve if promotion is secured. Leicester’s priority is getting up, and Nigel Pearson was pleased that nobody was injured before Saturday’s trip to QPR.

Pearson was more disappointed by the performance. “We were beaten by a very good side, punished for one or two mistakes,’’ the Leicester manager said.

"If you are going to cause an upset you have to keep it tighter. I don’t think people appreciate the quality. They might not look as though they are playing at high tempo, they just manage the ball well. I don’t think we were showing too much respect we were just not able to manage the ball.

“It would have been very easy to let a side of Manchester City’s quality to dominate and rub salt in the wound. But the players kept going. The players deserve a bit of credit for trying to put them under pressure and we got a goal back. It was reward for the endeavour we showed in the second half but it was scant consolation. We don’t like losing games.’’